Archive

Myth: Marketing Is for Extroverts In times gone by, marketing was done by wining and dining clients and potential clients. Wining and dining is the preference of extroverts. Those personalities who thrive on engagement with others. It was the way of the world. And there is still a place for that, but there are also […]

When I was a baby lawyer being introduced to a client by one of the partners, he described me as “our smartest associate.” I thought my heart would explode with pride. After my initial internal dialogue of “Wow! That’s awesome,” my next thought was, “I’m not sure that’s true.” But even if it were true, […]

I went on the Law School Toolkit Podcast for my first interview about Building a Better Law Practice: Become a Better Lawyer in 5 Minutes a Day. Alison Monahan and I had a good conversation about the book and the practical ways in which it can help lawyers improve their craft. You can access the interview […]

Myth: Effective Marketing Lets Potential Clients Know How Great You Are Your potential clients don’t need to know how great your are. They couldn’t care less about where you went to law school or how high falutin’ you are. Among other things, this emphasis on the wrong things is what lawyers get so wrong with […]

A few years ago in a small county in eastern Alabama where there lies a notorious stock car superspeedway, we were trying a case. Our truck driver had been traveling behind a school bus, when the bus stopped at a set of railroad tracks. Our driver also stopped. The bus started forward again, then immediately […]

Once upon a time, if you needed to get from Houston to Chattanooga, you’d get out your trusty Rand McNally roadmap and plot your course. Using various waypoints, you’d figure out how to get from your launch point to your destination. An opening statement should be used in just the same way. Your opening statement […]

Your opening statement should set the tone for what the jury can expect from you for the rest of trial. Tone has several dimensions. Disposition – whether your presentation of the case will be aggressive or agreeable. Demeanor – are your affable and charming or all business? Delivery – whether you’re engaging or monotonous. How I […]

When I started this blog in June of 2016, I did so without too much trepidation. I was essentially briefing cases and writing about my practice in ways that I was pretty comfortable with. But then I wanted to branch out. Slowly, I started to have ideas about other things I would like to write […]

Lately, my reading has been pretty heavy with much of it consisting of cartels, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the strengths and weaknesses of being an introvert. So when my friend Alex told me he’d written a new book about a couple of dogs that get into some shenanigans, I was all in. Dr. Alex […]

“I still think it would be pretty awesome if we, someday, did a writing blog thingy by posting either paragraphs, or a short legal writing prompt, and saw the various different things that people did with them, and maybe descriptions of why.” This suggestion by one of the guys on LawyerSmack sparked a discussion about doing […]